Criminal case opened against MP on fraud charges

The criminal case was opened on three articles of the Russian Criminal Code – fraud, attempted fraud and obstruction of justice

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MOSCOW, March 7 (Itar-Tass) – The head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, has launched a criminal case against State Duma deputy Oleg Mikheyev from the A Just Russia Party, Committee’s spokesman Vladimir Markin has told Itar-Tass. The criminal case was opened on three articles of the Russian Criminal Code – fraud, attempted fraud and obstruction of justice.

On February 19, the lower house satisfied an appeal of Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and agreed to strip Mikheyev of immunity as well as to open a criminal case against him. The decision was supported by 297 parliamentarians. Fifty-nine were against and four abstained.

Mikheyev is suspected of involvement in the takeover of 14 real estate facilities belonging to the Volgograd engine-making plant worth over 500 million roubles, and attempted theft of 2.1 billion roubles from Promsvyazbank. Also, the lawmaker is accused of obstructing justice.

Oleg Mikheyev claims that the transaction for 14 facilities of the Volgograd plant had been carried out “in accordance with all norms and requirements of law, as confirmed by 46 court rulings."

The lawmaker regards himself as an injured party in the case over the theft of 2.1 billion roubles from Promsvyazbank.

Speaking at Duma on Thursday, Mikheyev said accusations of the Prosecutor General’s Office “remain an absolutely unclear story” for him. According to him, commercial structures had deliberately misled the investigation, while “investigators began conscientiously deluding themselves”.